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Hey everyone!
I've had this idea in my head for the last few months and it absolutely refuses to leave! I've done all kinds of research however I still have some questions. I apologize if any of them are stupid.
First of all, can a gunshot wound to anywhere other than the head put someone in a coma? I would imagine the answer would be yes, if the person lost enough blood. Is that correct? How long would that coma last? I want the main character to be in a coma for about a day or two, however I'm uncertain as to whether this is even possible.
If not, I was also considering having him get into a bad car accident and suffering a head injury or perhaps get shot in the head, however I wanted him to come out of it relatively mentally unharmed, but from everything I've read it doesn't seem like this is possible after after sustaining a brain injury severe enough to put you in a coma for that long (especially a gunshot to the head). Is it entirely unbelievable? If so, I may have to add a supernatural element into the story to fix this (but this isn't the place for that ).
Also, is it normal for coma patients to have seizures? I haven't found a lot regarding this. I read that when the coma is induced by the doctors the drug(s) they use prevents seizures and sometimes when they start weening the patient off they'll start seizing. I was going for a "natural" coma though and I can't find any information regarding that. Do "natural" coma patients receive the same anti-seizure drugs as the induced coma patients? If so, wouldn't that be counterproductive since the same medications can put them in a coma? While we're on the topic of medicine, what medicines would a coma patient normally be on? They would be on some kind of painkiller, right?
I've read that one of the initial tests doctors do is use a penlight to measure the response of the pupils and no response is very bad and you're basically on your way out. Is it possible to regain pupil response as you recover or is it a case where once it's gone it's never coming back?
Also wanted to have a moment where something goes wrong while he's still in the coma leading the doctors to adopt a grim(er) prognosis if whether he will survive or not. Basically I want his friends and family to think the worst, but I don't want him to actually die. Is there a medical emergency that could accomplish this?
I think I've asked enough for right now.
Thanks in advance for any replies! They are much appreciated!
I've had this idea in my head for the last few months and it absolutely refuses to leave! I've done all kinds of research however I still have some questions. I apologize if any of them are stupid.
First of all, can a gunshot wound to anywhere other than the head put someone in a coma? I would imagine the answer would be yes, if the person lost enough blood. Is that correct? How long would that coma last? I want the main character to be in a coma for about a day or two, however I'm uncertain as to whether this is even possible.
If not, I was also considering having him get into a bad car accident and suffering a head injury or perhaps get shot in the head, however I wanted him to come out of it relatively mentally unharmed, but from everything I've read it doesn't seem like this is possible after after sustaining a brain injury severe enough to put you in a coma for that long (especially a gunshot to the head). Is it entirely unbelievable? If so, I may have to add a supernatural element into the story to fix this (but this isn't the place for that ).
Also, is it normal for coma patients to have seizures? I haven't found a lot regarding this. I read that when the coma is induced by the doctors the drug(s) they use prevents seizures and sometimes when they start weening the patient off they'll start seizing. I was going for a "natural" coma though and I can't find any information regarding that. Do "natural" coma patients receive the same anti-seizure drugs as the induced coma patients? If so, wouldn't that be counterproductive since the same medications can put them in a coma? While we're on the topic of medicine, what medicines would a coma patient normally be on? They would be on some kind of painkiller, right?
I've read that one of the initial tests doctors do is use a penlight to measure the response of the pupils and no response is very bad and you're basically on your way out. Is it possible to regain pupil response as you recover or is it a case where once it's gone it's never coming back?
Also wanted to have a moment where something goes wrong while he's still in the coma leading the doctors to adopt a grim(er) prognosis if whether he will survive or not. Basically I want his friends and family to think the worst, but I don't want him to actually die. Is there a medical emergency that could accomplish this?
I think I've asked enough for right now.
Thanks in advance for any replies! They are much appreciated!
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